I woke up at 4:30AM, a half an hour early. Consumed by the project. Yea pretty much. It was a miserable day with rain and fog. On I-95 there were 2 accidents slowing traffic south bound for over 10 miles, thank God I’m traveling north. I knew it was going to be a slow day. Bill Digney does not drive in the rain. Rob and Ed are at work. It was planned to be a slow day.

As it turns out Rich had the day off. He works for the US Postal service and worked on the S-44 restoration with Bill, Joe and the whole old gang a few years back. Turns out his cycle for days off synced up with one of our open days. He is really great since he comes in as asks what we need him to do, and he does it. No complaints, no issues. He gets it. We love people like this.

Today somehow fate worked out in my favor. Mike Korvino comes in ready to work. Wow, this is shaping up to be a good day! Then Chris Soltis comes in, ready to start documenting . Yea It was a good day.

Mark & Rich Working on the Corsair

Mike’s mom worked at the Chance Vought Plant and he is volunteering in part to pay tribute to her memory. He is also the manager at Stanziale’s Restaurant across the street from the old plant. We hope to be able to share a very special artifact of her’s at some point in the near future. Today Mike is setting up the rear jig to support the plane. The design will use 6×6’s and 3/4 in plywood to pick up the factory lift point/ lift tube in the rear of the fuselage.

In the meantime I constructed a wooden scaffold over the port wing to facilitate Bill’s efforts. This will insure a safer work place and allow him easier access to the wing seam. The corrosion has eaten this area up and we are assessing whether to repair or replace the fairing.

Rich finished drilling the screws out on the tail. There were several attempts at using the E-Z OUT. Our E-Z STUCKS were stiff competition and the reigning champions against the poor mis-guided E-Z OUTS. Finishing this part of the process is an accomplishment since lately any process turns into a quagmire of galled screws, bolts, nuts etc.